Interesting or trash?

thebeatles · Nov 25, 2009

I was messing with some of my pictures from this summer and thought this was neat. You are welcome to critique if you would like. I know it is a bit unusual. :lol:

y0aimee · Nov 25, 2009

The top right part of the pic is distracting me. Looks like a cool b&w pic with all the shadows.. I just wish there was more light on the face of the statue.

thebeatles · Nov 25, 2009

Thanks for the quick reply! :lol:

beni_hung · Nov 25, 2009

I agree. I like the picture, but the top right is distracting. Maybe even that hump right next to the statue, as well. The face could use some more light (just me). But nice angle!

thebeatles · Nov 25, 2009

y0aimee said:
The top right part of the pic is distracting me...

beni_hung said:
the top right is distracting. Maybe even that hump right next to the statue, as well....

Should I try to crop this differently?

WimFoto · Nov 25, 2009

interesting for sure.
try some cloning to get rid of the top right.
i like the texture of the statue and the contrast with the sky.

thebeatles · Nov 25, 2009

WimFoto said:
interesting for sure.
try some cloning to get rid of the top right.
i like the texture of the statue and the contrast with the sky.

I know nothing about cloning but this is a good excuse to learn. :lol:

Thanks for the tips folks. :thumbup:

Dominantly · Nov 25, 2009

Needed more lighting to see detail in the face

WimFoto · Nov 25, 2009

i took the liberty to do a bit of cloning (top right) and dodging in the face.

Dominantly · Nov 25, 2009

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed you could have pulled that much detail out of her underexposed face. Good job.

LarissaPhotography · Nov 25, 2009

Is that iron? I like the lights and darks. The lighting makes this an interesting picture.

thebeatles · Nov 25, 2009

WimFoto said:
i took the liberty to do a bit of cloning (top right) and dodging in the face.

That does look a lot better. Good job. :thumbup:

thebeatles · Nov 26, 2009

LarissaPhotography said:
Is that iron? I like the lights and darks. The lighting makes this an interesting picture.

Bronze actually.

thebeatles · Nov 26, 2009

I tried cloning for the first time after the suggestion. Is this ok or too obvious? Thanks for pushing me to try something new!

Oh yeah, how is the face now? Is it still too dark? I could not get it as light as wimfotos without it looking weird. :lol:

manaheim · Nov 26, 2009

I'm finding myself oddly informed in the taking of pictures of statues, so I'll toss in some comments.

First off, keep in mind when photographing a statue that all you are doing is making art from someone else's art. This practice can very easily result in an 'inventory shot', where really all you've done is capture an image of the art, but done no art yourself. I don't think you've quite done that here, but you've not added much to this. When shooting statues and stuff,

I like to pull out the specific details that make that particular piece special or interesting... or I try zoom in on the face to really bring out the emotion, or I try to use environmental elements to amplify emotions that are there... or sometimes even deliberately choose elements that confuse the emotion of the piece.

To some degree, I think you have the trappings of some of that here... moody sky, morose-looking statue, etc. However, I think there is too much of the piece in the shot and it confuses the issue a bit. (personal opinion, mind you)

Also... some statues just don't make the best shots IMO. The statues that are super smooth and lack any real flaws can sometimes be pretty dull. Not always, but sometimes.

Finally, in this case you just didn't expose her properly... some folks did salvage some detail for you (way more than I would have expected they could have, as someone else commented on), but you still would be wanting for more. Keep in mind, too that a nice off-camera fill flash would do wonders here as it would brighten up the subject and deepen the sky.

I have some examples on my website if you're interested (under the other category). Oh and the VERY first one on my site has a sky similar to the one you had, to give you an example. I'd post 'em here but I don't want to hijack your thread.

Good luck with this. It's been my new fascination lately.